Organizations mentioned in the correspondence

Governmental Institution
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty
The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, also known as the Board of the Admiralty, were a group of officers concerned with the affairs of the Royal Navy. King Edward VI commissioned a group of officers of Marine Causes in 1546 under the Lord High Admiral. They were responsible for materials, non-combatant personnel, warrant officers and ratings, and the civil administration of the Navy.1
On the death of the Duke of Buckingham in 1628, the acting Lord High Admiral in the late-16th century, his office was put into commission. It was then that six Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were appointed to execute his office jointly. This varied throughout the years as occasionally the position of Lord High Admiral was revived. It was not until 1708 that the Board of Admiralty became the primary and normal instrument for governing the Navy.2
This Naval Board was abolished in 1832, influencing the Board of Admiralty to be redesigned. It then consisted of a particular group of people: a First Lord, four naval lords (known from 1904 as Sea Lords), and a Civil Lord with a parliamentary and permanent secretary. Each Sea Lord had specific responsibilities such as: naval strategy, mobilization, medical departments, transport, and material departments.3
The Board of Admiralty remained unchanged until 1 April 1964 when they changed its name to the “Admiralty Board of the Defence Council of the Ministry of Defence.”4
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Assay Office
Assay Offices were originally founded to be responsible for the testing of the quality of gold, silver, and platinum; as well as to regulate the trade of the goldsmith. The first Assay Office in the United Kingdom was established in London around 1300.1
In British Columbia, the Assay Office was proposed as a measure to remedy the lack of currency in the colony. It was believed that this office would help to authenticate gold ingots and to regulate the export of gold from Canada into the United States.2 The colony of British Columbia saw that the advantages of an Assay Office would be incalculable as it would allow for gold to remain circulating in the country and would enable vendors and purchasers of gold to receive a fair price.3
Prior to establishment in the 1860s, some colonists felt that an assay office was a public inconvenience and a detriment to the commercial interests of the colony. However, the view that the office would allow anyone to learn the true value of the gold in their possession overruled these dissatisfactory opinions.4
  • 1. Current and Historic Assay Offices, Assay Office: Birmingham.
  • 2. R. L. Reid, The Assay Office and the proposed Mint at New Westminster: a chapter in the history of the Fraser River mines, (Charles F. Banfield: Victoria, 1926), p.28.
  • 3. Ibid., 28, 30.
  • 4. Douglas to Lytton, 8 April 1859, CO 60/4, 5439, p.259.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade, also known as the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, was a governmental advisory board, first established by William III in May 1696. The board's responsibility focused on the examination of colonial legislation, the disallowance of laws that conflicted with imperial trade policies, the nomination of governors and other high officials, and the recommendation of laws that affect the colonies to Parliament.1
After Britain lost their American colonies, the original Board of Trade was abolished in 1782. However there soon grew a need to regulate trade between Britain and its remaining colonies, as well as with France. This need led to the establishment of a new “Committee of Council on Trade and Plantations” by William Pitt in 1784.2
The name Board of Trade was associated with the new committee since 1786, but the title was not officially adopted until 1861. The board's original concern was based on plantations and colonial law; but the industrial revolution influenced a change in focus to domestic and executive affairs such as railways, merchant shipping, and joint-stock companies.3
Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the board's wide range of work was narrowed when certain responsibilities were transferred to other areas in the government. For instance, in 1919 the responsibility of fisheries was transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture.4
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Colonial Office
Throughout its imperial history, the British empire had various departments administering the colonies. When the War and Colonial Office was divided into two in 1854, the Colonial Office was created with the specific mandate to oversee colonial affairs. The Office was headed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies and ran by a core staff of Under Secretaries, clerks, registrar, and librarian. While the Secretary of State was responsible for all the decisions on the Office's formal communications, the Senior Clerk coordinated the routine of processing despatches, who minuted the correspondences, suggested answers and/or courses of handling the subjects, and prepared drafts of replies. The Colonial Office staff minutes are interesting to read in many regards. They are more than the accustomed bureaucratic records. There are gossips, rants, and sarcastic comments on the corresponding governors. The minutes capture the high-ranking officers' personalities as much as their interest (disinterest) in colonial affairs. The Colonial Office was merged into the Commonwealth Office in 1966, which was consequently amalgamated with the Foreign Office to form the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1968.1
  • 1. Nancy Brown Foulds, Colonial Office, The Canadian Encyclopedia ; The Colonial Despatches, Colonial Office staff and consultants, The Colonial Despatches of Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846-1871, ed., James Hendrickson, (Victoria BC: University of Victoria).
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Colonial Treasury
The Colonial Treasury handled colonial revenue, mostly derived from land sales and gold mining permits.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Emigration Office
The Colonial Land and Emigration Commission was established in 1840. A board of commissioners was appointed to manage the sales of Crown lands in British colonies and regulate emigration from the UK to the colonies. The commissioners had the power to use the proceeds from land sales to defray the expense of emigration. They corresponded with colonial governors indirectly through the Colonial Secretary (head of the Colonial Office). They also supervised the emigration officers stationed in British colonies. The first board rented a private house for their office space on Park Street, Westminster, London.1
It became Emigration Commission in 1856 after the imperial government had granted the rights of administering Crown lands to the colonial governments.2 In 1878, the Commission was replaced with Emigration Department set up in the Colonial Office.3
  • 1. Fred H. Hitchins, The Colonial Land and Emigration Commission, (Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1931), 42-45, 59, 159.
  • 2. Ibid., 310.
  • 3. Ibid., 94.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Foreign Office
The Foreign Office was formed in 1782 to oversee Britain's foreign affairs, which had previously been co-administered by the Southern and Northern Departments of the Secretary of State. In addition to foreign affairs, the Foreign Office was also responsible for British protectorates like Cephalonia.1
As the territory of the British empire shifted, the responsibility boundaries between the Foreign and Colonial Offices were not always clear. As regards HBC Governor J. H. Pelly's inquiry about the Oregon Territory treaty,2 Benjamin Hawes suggested to Lord Grey that the issue should be forwarded to the Foreign Office. The Foreign Office was merged into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1968.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Home Office
The Home Office was founded in 1782 as a foundational part of the security and economic prosperity of the United Kingdom. The office came into existence in order to reorganize the business undertaken by the Secretaries of State, creating the “Home Secretaries.”1
In March 1782, the Home Office consisted of a Secretary of State, two Under Secretaries, a Chief Clerk and ten other Clerks. By May 1782, the Home Office took on more responsibilities such as reporting on the acts of colonial legislatures.2 In September 1793, the Home Office took over the duty of keeping the criminal register. This continued into the 1800s when Henry Bright wrote to the Home Office to suggest Vancouver Island as an ideal place to establish a convict colony.3 The office's tasks increased in the mid-nineteenth century when it took on the business relating to immigration in 1836 and turnpike roads and highways in 1853.4
The Home Office is now the lead government department for immigration, passports, drug control, crime, fire, counter-terrorism, and the police.5
  • 1. Home Office: About Us, GOV: UK; Introduction, in Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 5, Home Office Officials, 1782-1870, ed. J. C. Sainty, (London, 1975), p.1-10.
  • 2. Introduction, in Office-Holders in Modern Britain.
  • 3. Waddington to Merivale, 16 Marcch 1853, CO 305/4, 3432, p.205.
  • 4. Introduction, in Office-Holders in Modern Britain.
  • 5. Home Office: About Us.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Parliament oversaw the implementation of legislations in colonies. Legislative issues relating to colonies were always debated in Parliament; few laws could be enacted without Parliament's endorsement. Clerks of the House of Commons communicated Parliament's inquiries, requests and decisions to the Colonial Office.1 In this despatch, J. H. Ley requested the Colonial Office to provide the House of Commons with a Copy of Correspondence between the Chairman of the Hudson's Bay Company, and the Secretary of State for the Colonies, relative to the Colonization of Vancouver's Island.2
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Land Board
The Land Board advised colonies and the Colonial Office on the state of laws regarding the disposal of public lands in the colonies. This despatch refers to the land disposal process in British Columbia.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Law Officers
The Law Officers of the Crown is a legal position in Britain which can be dated back to the early 1300s. From the middle of this century, the officers were responsible for submitting accounts of the “King's rent” and other incomes such as salaries, defence, and charities to the English Exchequer.1
The Officers' position and responsibilities evolved over time, becoming more directly involved in legal authorities. Some Officers held a seat in the House of Commons and became personal lawyers to the other members of the House.2 Law Officers of the Crown were regularly consulted on legal questions which concerned Britain's colonies or the outskirts of the British Empire. In this despatch, the Officers were consulted on matters of trading establishments in relation to the Hudson's Bay Company.3
The role of Law Officer also included matters of land, manorial possessions, and other properties. This despatch depicts a statement by the Law Officers concerning the Hudson's Bay Company land acquisition on Vancouver Island.4
The position of Law Officers of the Crown is appointed by royal warrant and today the officers are known as “Receiver General.” Although the office still exists today, many of the activities and responsibilities of the Officers have been diminished in the 20th century.5
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Municipal Council of New Westminster
The Municipal Council of New Westminster was established by the “New Westminster Municipal Council Act of 1860,” the act provided the city with a measure of self-government. By the act of 1860, the council was permitted to be created by the city of New Westminster and to define the scope of its powers and responsibilities. The first session of the council was held in Sapperton in the mid-1860s.1
The act outlined guidelines for the council such as the number of councillors permitted, as well that the Mayor could only be elected by voter, not by the councillors themselves. The act also allowed the council to elect a Clerk, Treasurer, Assessor, and Collector.2 Known members of the Municipal Council of New Westminster included Ebenezer Brown, W. R. Sommer, Henry Holbrook, and A. H. Manson.3
The council's responsibilities included roads, regulation of slaughter-houses, fire prevention, relief of the poor, public morals, police, licensing, and cemeteries. The council sustained its responsibilities through tax collections, establishing fees for permits, and the selling of city land.4
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Offices of the Crown Agents for the Colonies
The Crown Agents acted as the British commercial and financial agent for the Crown colonies; since the establishment of the office in 1831 the agents worked to accelerate self-sufficiency, as well as prosperity for their communities.1
Some of the responsibilities of the Crown Agents were to supply all non-locally run stores, manage colonial investments, and other. With the arrival of the railways, other mass developments, and the opening of trade in large areas of the world, the agents played a greater role in supervising the constructions of railways as well as the management of Colonial Loans on the London Stock Market.2 The Crown Agents' involvement in the community increased in the Victorian and Edwardian periods with the further responsibilities of shipping, recruitment, finance, the administration of Widows and Orphans schemes, and pension payments. Much of the work accomplished by the Crown Agents went unnoticed and they never made the headlines.3
The Crown Agents continue their work to this day. They now look at technologies which will help accelerate the pace of change. Again continuing their search to aid their communities, businesses, institutions, and countries.4
Mentions of this organization in the documents
General Post Office
Charles II established the General Post Office in 1660. A year after its formation, the first postage date stamp was used and the office appointed its first overseer: Henry Bishop.1 It was not until 1793, over 100 years later, that uniformed postmen first took to the street. In 1829, the first-purpose-built mail facility was put into operation at St. Martin's Le Grand EC2.2
Sir Rowland Hill's invention of the adhesive postage stamp in 1837 was a key moment for the GPO, as it aided in the creation of the Penny Black Stamp three years later. This stamp enabled sending posts anywhere in the world, such as the one seen from an Ordinance by Musgrave who notes that all documents of title shall be transmitted by the Magistrate, through the GPO.3 The Penny Black Stamp also led to the introduction of the Post Office pillar box in 1852.
In 1868, the military became linked to the GPO through the 49th Middlesex Rifle Volunteer Corps, (known as the “Post Office Rifles”), which consisted of GPO employees.4 This corps played a large role during the First World War. At the outbreak of war in 1914, the GPO employed 250,000 people, a quarter of which were enlisted in the army. There were also 35,000 women who were employed in “temporary positions” throughout WWI.5 The GPO played a pivotal role in maintaining communications throughout the war.
The GPO's postal distribution efficiency increased in 1974 with the creation of postal codes. Today the GPO is known at the Post Office Ltd.6
  • 1. A short history of the Post Office, The History Press.
  • 2. Ibid.
  • 3. Ibid.; A. Musgrave, The Land Registry Ordinance, (Government Printing Office: Victoria, BC, 1870), p.5.
  • 4. A short history of the Post Office.
  • 5. Ibid.
  • 6. Ibid.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Privy Council
The Privy Council is, historically, the British sovereign's private council and dates back to the earliest days of the monarchy, when the council consisted of people appointed directly by the King or Queen to advise on matters of the state.1
The council descended from the “Curia Regis” which comprised the king's tenants in chief, household officials, and other advisers, who formed all the functions of the government. In the early to mid-seventeenth century the council system was swept away but not formally abolished; Charles II reinstated/revived the system not long after.2
In 1701, the “Act of Settlement” attempted to return the Privy Council to its former power, by attempting to instate regulations whereby all resolutions shall be signed by the Privy Council; however this attempt proved to be futile. After the accession of George I in 1714, the council became a purely formal body, meeting to transact formal business. It did, however, keep some of its power by continuing to aid the monarch and the Governor General by providing advice. It also functioned from 1839 to 1949 as the highest court of appeal for Canada.3
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Registrar General
The Registrar General was responsible for the main registration of births, deaths, and marriages in the colony of British Columbia.1 The Registrar General of British Columbia was established under the “British Columbia Registry Act, 1861.” The Registrar General also had the duty to record in books…the record of pre-emption claims, the record of mortgages, the record or wills.2
  • 1. Seymour to Grenville, 11 August 1868, CO 60/33, 11062, p.248.; A. Musgrave, The Land Registry Ordinance, (Government Printing Office: Victoria, BC, 1870), p.1.
  • 2. Musgrave, The Land Registry Ordinance, p.4.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Treasury
The Treasury, also referred to as the Exchequer, is a government department responsible for receiving and disbursing the public revenue. Henry I created the Exchequer as a distinct government agency in the twelfth century.1 However, the Treasury which became a part of the Exchequer, dated back to before the Norman conquests of 1066.2
Originally, the Exchequer addressed financial matters and judicial business. Eventually, the Exchequer split into two entities in the late eighteenth century. The lower Exchequer, which became the Treasury, and the upper Exchequer which became the judiciary. In the nineteenth century a series of parliamentary acts took away many of the lower Exchequer's departments, leaving only its name. The Exchequer remains the “unofficial” name of the Treasury in Britain.3
Mentions of this organization in the documents
War Office
The War Office, originally known as the Secretary of War's office, is directly responsible for the Army. The original and first holder of the position was killed in battle against the Dutch in 1666. After this incident, the office did not have a significant role in government and was known as not being a big spending Department.1
However, throughout the years, the office became increasingly important for political control of the Army. The War Office was not the only Government Department responsible in this area, by 1815 there were fifteen other departments serving this same function. This was soon deemed inefficient and by 1854 the War Office was set-up to take full control of both the political and financial areas of the Army.2
Although the office had undergone changes, it was increasingly looked-down upon. Florence Nightingale, who had experienced the Crimean War, once referred to the War Office as a very slow office, an enormously expensive office, a not very efficient office.3
The office again fully reformed in 1904 and a new building was established for it at Whitehall where the War Office exists today. The most notable Secretaries of State for War after the new reform have been Lloyd George (1916) and Sir Winston Churchill (1919-1921).4
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Religious Affiliation
British Colonial Missionary Society
The British Colonial Missionary Society, also known as the Commonwealth Missionary Society, was established in 1836 to promote congregationalism in the English-speaking colonies.1 The society's purpose was to promote education and religion in the British colonies, primarily to spread the Christian faith in the non-European world. The society grew rapidly and by 1842 it had established mission stations in Wellington, New Zealand, and Canada. By the late-nineteenth century, the society had expanded to include South Africa, Australia, and the British West Indies.2
Originally, members of the society were unpaid and volunteered their services; however this eventually changed with salaried officials who were responsible for the administrative side of the society. In 1956 the society changed its name from the British Colonial Missionary Society to the Commonwealth Missionary Society.3
In 1966, the society merged with the London Missionary Society to create the Congregational Council for World Mission.4
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Church Missionary Society
The Church Missionary Society (CMS) was founded in London on 12 April 1799 at Aldersgate, London by an evangelical clergy of the Church of England. The society's goal was to stress biblical faith, personal conversion, and piety in the British Colonies.1
In its first ten years of operation, the society only sent five missionaries to work among non-Christians but its work eventually expanded to include diverse areas such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. In these colonies, especially in Canada, the society conducted moral instruction of the Native Tribes.2
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Colonial Church and School Society
The Colonial Church and School Society (CCSS) sent ministers to British Columbia in order to provide spiritual necessities to, primarily, the English-speaking settlers. One of the best known ministers sent to BC by the CCSS was Reverend William Burton Crickmer.1
The CCSS was also responsible for establishing the “Mission to Fugitive Slaves in Canada” in 1854, which included the Reverend Thomas Hughes. The society also founded a racially integrated school in London, Canada West. Due to the continuous protest against segregationist education from Black leaders in this community, the CCSS continued to establish these types of schools, the most known, still today, is the mission school in Dresden, Germany.2
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Society Emmanuel
Society Emmanuel, or Congregation Emanu-El of Victoria, Vancouver Island, came into being in 1862. The arrival of Jews in Victoria in 1858 during the gold rush allowed for the growth of a Jewish congregation and the construction of the first synagogue -- the oldest house of worship in British Columbia and the oldest synagogue in Canada.1
The synagogue's cornerstone laying ceremony took place on 2 June 1863. The ceremony was attended by the mayor, town council, Chief Justice, Freemasons, Hebrew Benevolent, French Benevolent, and St. Andrews' societies.2 In 1864, the Articles of Constitution considered the congregation a body politic and corporate in deed and in law by its name and that this society shall have and enjoy all such rights, powers and privileges as by common or statute law.3
Near the end of the nineteenth century, the Jewish population was declining in Victoria. By the mid-1940s, only 10-15 “paid families” belonged to Congregation Emanu-El, the synagogue was 80 years old and deteriorating.4 The restoration of the synagogue began in the late 1970s and was completed in 1982. Its completion was celebrated with many cultures, ethnicities, and religions -- similarly to the celebration in 1863.5
In 2004, the congregation reached approximately 215 families and it is still thriving to this day.6
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts
Reverend Thomas Bray founded the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (SPG) in 1701 as a missionary organization active in the British Atlantic in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.1
The SPG supported over four hundred overseas agents and focused on providing maintenance to orthodox clergy in the plantation & colonies. The society was also instrumental in the long-term institutional development of the Church of England. During the eighteenth century, the society's focus shifted to the Christianization of Indigenous Peoples, as well as enslaved and free Africans and Black Americans. Due to this “Christianization,” the society was responsible for converting many of these individuals.2
With the founding of the Church Missionary Society in 1799, the society's activities were, somewhat, limited from their original influence and presence. However, the society, to this day, remains active worldwide. After 1965, it operated as the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (USPG), and it again rebranded in 2012 as the United Society.3
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Society of the Sisters of St. Ann
The Sisters of St. Ann are a congregation of religious women, whose society was founded in 1850 in Vaudreuil, Québec by Marie Esther Blondin.1
On 5 June 1858, four sisters/nuns arrived in Victoria to begin their work in educating the children of the colony. The first of their work included the opening of a school and helping the sick and orphaned. The nuns' arrival to BC coincided with the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush and its associated societal changes. Due to this, the women were tasked with responding to new community circumstances.2
The Sisters of St. Ann were known as the “pioneer nuns” whose provision of education and health care established them as a vital part of the Victoria community. During their time in BC, these women were responsible for establishing St. Ann's Academy and St. Joseph's Hospital which both still exist as historical sites.3
Mentions of this organization in the documents
St. Andrews Society
St. Andrew's Society was a society affiliated with the church in New Westminster, British Columbia. In a document to Governor Seymour, they congratulate him on his arrival into the colony of BC and describe him as the worthy representative of our beloved queen.1
The society was composed of Scotchmen and the descendants of Scotchmen. Its foundation was organized for the purpose of preserving sweet and sunny memories of the land. As well as to contribute as a benevolent society to the relief of our fellow countrymen when in distress.2 The society offered the colony their cooperation in the efforts to advance the interests of British Columbia and its citizens.3
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Business
Alex Arthur and Company
Alex Arthur and Company were commission merchants and forwarding agents located on 135 Buchanan Street, Glasgow.1 In this despatch, the company requests information regarding the Hudson's Bay Company and the rules concerning trade in the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia.2
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Bank of Australia
The Bank of Australia, originally known as the Bank of New South Wales, opened in April 1817 in Sydney, Australia due to the instrumental influence of Governor Lachlan Macquarie and Judge-Advocate John Wylde.1
Prior to the formation of the bank, the colony of Australia had a shortage of reliable currency. Therefore, with trade commodities (such as crops), many settlers paid for these commodities with rum, which led to an increase in alcoholism and poverty. As more settlers continued to arrive in the colony and agricultural development increased, the need for a stable form of currency became more urgent.2
With Governor Macquarie's arrival in Sydney in 1810, the need became ever more apparent as he observed that main infrastructure such as the Sydney to Liverpool road had been paid for with 400 gallons of liquor. In March 1810, three months after Macquarie's arrival, the opening of a formal bank was proposed; however the British government initially denied the proposal. It was not until the arrival of Judge-Advocate John Wylde that there was a true impetus for change concerning the bank.3
On 8 April 1817, the bank finally opened in rooms it rented from an ex-convict. In 1822, the bank relocated to larger premises. The gold rushes in the 1850s led to major expansions of the bank, from one branch in Sydney in 1851 to 37 branches in Australia and New Zealand ten years later. It continued to function as an independent bank until 1982 when it merged with the Commercial Bank of Australia and later became Westpac Banking Corporation as it is known today.4
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Bank of British Columbia
The British government founded the Bank of British Columbia, also known as the Chartered Bank of British Columbia and Vancouver's Island, in 1862 and appointed Mr. James Davidson Walker as manager.1
The bank's head office was in London with its chief colonial establishment in Victoria. Its responsibility was to issue notes, receive deposits, and conduct exchanges with Canada, China, India, Australia, Japan, and other countries. It also functioned as the Agency for the Loan for the colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island.2
The discovery of gold in the BC region led to the establishment of the main branch of the bank in London and its subsequent expansion. The bank then became a major lender to the financially struggling colonial government. However, by the end of the nineteenth century, the bank was unable to compete against the formation of other banks and had to merge with the Canadian Bank of Commerce in 1901.3
  • 1. Pelham-Clinton to Douglas, 31 May 1862, CO 410/1, p.373; Bank of British Columbia, Canada's Historic Places.
  • 2. Duncan George Forbes Macdonald, British Columbia and Vancouver's Island: comprising a description of these dependencies, their physical character, climate, capabilities, population, trade, natural history, geology, ethnology, gold-fields, and future prospects: also an account of the manners and customs of the native Indians, (London: Longman Green, 1862); Pelham-Clinton to Douglas, 12 November 1862, NAC RG7:G8C/10, p.281.
  • 3. Bank of British Columbia, Canada's Historic Places.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Bank of British North America
British investors founded the Bank of British North America in 1836; it was incorporated by royal charter in 1840. The Victoria branch was located on Yates Street; the manager was Fred. Whatley Wood, the accountant was Alexander Watson, the teller was E. M. Jackson, and the messenger was A. Wilson.1 The bank became the official bank for the city of Victoria and the colonial government of Vancouver Island. On 12 April 1918, the Bank of British North America was absorbed by the Bank of Montreal.2
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Bank of Egypt
The British first established the Bank of Egypt, also referred to as the Anglo-Egyptian Bank, in 1864. The bank further expanded to other overseas branches such as in Gibraltar, Cyprus, and Malta. By 1925, the Bank of Egypt had 16 branches across various Mediterranean cities. It eventually merged with the Barclays Bank.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Bank of England
The Bank of England was founded on 27 July 1694 as a private bank that would act as a banker to the government and that would fund the war effort against France. The original royal charter of 1694, explained that the bank was founded to promote the public Good and Benefit of our People.1
The bank officially opened for business on 1 August 1694. Sir John Houblon became the first governor of the bank. In 1711, the establishment of the South Sea Company threatened the bank's position as the government's banker and owner of national debt, as the stock prices rose for the South Sea Company, creating a “frenzy” of investments. When the company's prices crashed, thousands of people were “ruined.”2
In 1734, the Bank of England moved to Threadneedle Street, where it still stands today. Over the next 100 years, the bank bought many of the adjacent properties until it owned a 3.5-acre site.3 The Bank of England established its first branches in 1826 as a response to the financial crisis of 1825-26. The bank's first branch opened in Gloucester on 19 July 1826. The Gloucester branch was the most short-lived branch as it was never very profitable, the business was transferred to Bristol in 1849.4
The Bank Charter Act of 1844 gave the bank more independent powers and formalized the issuance of banknotes in the UK. In 1870, the Chief Cashier became the only one at the Bank of England who was able to sign banknotes, a tradition which has continued to this day.5 In 1894, Miss Janet Hogarth became the first woman officially recorded as working for the bank.
The Bank of England was nationalized in 1946 and is still functioning today.6
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Bank of Montreal
In 1817, nine of Montreal's most prominent figures founded the Bank of Montreal, originally known as the Montreal Bank. The bank was originally established to help business customers with their trade in and out of the city.1
Its purpose furthered with the responsibility of providing a form of paper money to customers, to become a place where people could deposit their savings, as a source of loans, and of foreign exchange. In 1818, the bank expanded to operate outside the Québec region and in 1822 the bank converted from a private to a public company with 144 shareholders -- officially becoming the Bank of Montreal.2
By 1864, the bank became the official bank for the government of the Province of Canada and added the responsibility of financing government operations. The bank continued to expand and in 1867 it had establishments in the Maritime provinces. After Canadian Confederation, the bank focused its business on the growing number of lumber, railway, and industrial companies. It became the main source of financing for the Canadian Pacific Railway which provided the bank with an opportunity to open a branch in Winnipeg (1877), Calgary (1886), and Vancouver (1887).3
Until the founding of the Bank of Canada in 1935, the Bank of Montreal served as Canada's central bank, as well as Canada's oldest incorporated bank. Today the bank is the eighth largest bank in North America and the fourth largest in Canada.4
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Bedrock Flume Company
The Bedrock Flume Company was a company operated by gold miners. James Douglas writes in his ordinance on 26 February 1864, that the Bedrock Flume Company may enter on abandoned ground and shall be entitled to all the gold deposited in the flume.1 Douglas further states that the company is entitled to the use of unoccupied and unappropriated water of the streams for the foundations of the flumes. The ordinance was placed in order to extend and improve upon the laws relating to gold mining.2
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Birmingham Agents
In this despatch, the Birmingham Agents facilitate the sourcing and pricing of iron in order to supply the Volunteer's of Vancouver's Island with rifles.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Brand and Company
W. & H. Brand and Company were likely solicitors. In this despatch, they indicate that they were returning their power of attorney. The company was located on 109 Fenchurch Street, London. They were possibly connected to James Brand, Esq, a member of the Royal Geographical Society, who also operated from this address.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
British Columbia Co. Limited
British Columbia Co. Limited was formed in London around 1863 when its directors sent three or four practical men to report to the company on the prospects of mining in the colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island. This company, however, faced challenges with pre-existing laws regarding the holding of mining property. Many financiers were unwilling to invest in any mining company unless concessions were given to them by the colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
British Columbia Overland Transit Company
The British Columbia Overland Transit Company was organized in London in 1862 by Arthur Sleigh, a man described by the Toronto Globe as a swindler and complete scoundrel.1 Because of his reputation, Sleigh was studiously kept in the background, while James Henson, the company's secretary, acted as its public representative.2 The company offered transportation from England to British Columbia, which was in the throes of the Cariboo Gold Rush. Passengers were to arrive in Canada by ship, continue to St. Paul, Minnesota by rail, then cross the Prairies and the Rocky Mountains in wagons via the Red River Settlement.3 The first group of thirty-three travellers arrived at St. Paul in June 1862 to find that no arrangements had been made for the completion of their journey.4 The company's agents, H. L. Hime and James Hayward, had both been told by Sleigh that the other had been given the money necessary to cover the expedition's expenses.5 Eight travellers were able to return to England but twenty-five who could not afford the trip became stranded in St. Paul.6 The Manchester Weekly Times reported that some, it is said, are toiling away in the mines there for their daily bread, and, unless friends release them from their slavery, it may last a life time.7 The Colonial Office was asked to help the stranded but declined, saying that it was quite impossible for the government to assist those who had embarked in impracticable enterprises, and had allowed themselves to be imposed upon by designing persons from the consequence of their imprudence.8 Sleigh closed the firm's office, sold his house and furniture, and disappeared into space.9 Henson was charged with fraud, but successfully argued that he had no knowledge of Sleigh's criminal intent.10 Henry Fenton Jadis, who held a senior position with the government's Board of Trade and was brother of Colonial Office clerk Vane Jadis, was not so fortunate.11 He had become entangled in the scheme by agreeing to act as one of the company's directors. He and several other directors, including British member of Parliament F. H. Berkeley, were found liable in civil court and ordered to pay damages to Sleigh's victims.12 Some, including Jadis, were forced into bankruptcy as a result.13 The London Morning Post offered the following summary of the whole sorry affair: the object of the company itself was not the legitimate one of expediting inexperienced travellers to their destination by taking upon itself the responsibility of the intermediate arrangements, but the replenishment of the empty pockets of Colonel Sleigh and of one or two of his chosen confrères who were in on the secret.14
  • 1. The Overland Transit Company, Globe (Toronto), 16 September 1862, 2; Morning Post (London), 17 February 1863, 4.
  • 2. British Columbia Overland Transit viâ Canada, Daily News (London), 8 April 1862, 1; British Columbia Overland Transit viâ Canada, Standard (London), 8 April 1862, 1; D. G. F. Macdonald, British Columbia and Vancouver's Island […] (London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green, 1862), 405-409. http://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0114669
  • 3. James Parsons, ed., Reports of Cases [English Courts of Common Law, vol. 109], 145. http://n2t.net/ark:/13960/t0qs4h68h
  • 4. Birmingham Daily Post, 20 February 1863, 2.
  • 5. British Columbia Overland Transportation Company, Globe (Toronto), 9 July 1862, 1; Collapse of the Overland Transit Company, Globe (Toronto), 9 July 1862, 2.
  • 6. Finnis to Pelham-Clinton, 22 August 1862, CO 60:14, no. 8373, 380. B626F02.html
  • 7. The Overland Transit Swindle, Manchester Weekly Times, 30 August 1862, 4.
  • 8. Collingwood to Rogers, 18 August 1862, CO 60:14, no. 8205, 348. B626C01.html; Finnis to Pelham-Clinton, August 1862, CO 60:14, no. 8373, 380. B626F02.html
  • 9. The British Columbia Overland Transit Company, Morning Post (London), 22 August 1862, 6; Morning Post (London), 17 February 1863, 4.
  • 10. Manchester Guardian, 18 February 1863, 2.
  • 11. The Royal Kalendar [1862] (R. & A. Suttaby, 1862), 164. http://n2t.net/ark:/13960/t19m3rj3x
  • 12. Parsons, Reports of Cases, 156; Birmingham Daily Post, 20 February 1863, 2.
  • 13. Court of Bankruptcy, Observer (London), 28 February 1864, 3; Court of Bankruptcy, Daily News (London), 13 May 1865, 6.
  • 14. Morning Post (London), 17 February 1863, 4.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
British Columbia Mining Company
The British Columbia Mining Company was, as noted by its name, a mining company. In this despatch, Mackean requests concessions from Her Majesty's government on behalf of the company. It notes the importance of applying capital to the mines and that the formation of companies such as this one should not be discouraged.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Bridges, Sawlett, Haywood and Company
Bridges, Sawlett, Haywood and Company were solicitors. In this despatch, the company claims to be solicitors for the family of the late Captain Venables, enquiring about his government grant of 1456 acres of land.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
British Museum
The British Museum was founded in 1753 and opened its doors in 1759. It was the first national museum to cover all fields of human knowledge. Through an act of Parliament, the museum became the world's first free, national, public museum.1
In the 1830s, the regulations of the museum were changed in order to extend the opening hours and time guests could spend inside the museum. The collection of the museum is extensive and continued to grow throughout the centuries.2 Sir Hans Sloane aided in amassing a large collection of 80,000 natural and artificial rarities, as well as over 40,000 books and manuscripts. The museum's collections were initially housed in Montagu House, a seventeenth century mansion. As the collection grew, new galleries were added to the original house.3 The collection continued to grow and could no longer fit in the original building. Montagu House was demolished in 1823 and the collections moved to the building that it is still in today.4
In the twenty-first century, there has been increasing controversy with the museum as many of its housed artifacts are stolen. In 1897, British troops stole approximately 4,000 sculptures from the Kingdom of Benin, now southwestern Nigeria.5 As a protest, a theatre group in Britain organized a “Stolen Goods Tour” in which they highlight stolen artifacts, such as the Gwaegal Shield which was stolen from Aboriginal Australians by the British in the eighteenth century. Other stolen artifacts housed in the British Museum include: Egypt's Rosetta Stone, Easter Island's Moai head statue, Greece's Parthenon marbles (“Elgin marbles”), and others.6 As of 2018, the British Museum stated that it has no plans to repatriate the stolen artifacts.7
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Brook, Thornton and Brook
Brook, Thorton and Brook were a shipping agency company located on 79 Great Tower Street, London. In this despatch, the company directs Lytton's attention to the vessel Athelstan which will be arriving in Vancouver Island to receive cargo.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
A. Campbell and Company
In this despatch, A. Campbell and Company, a steamer company, corresponds with the Vancouver and North Pacific Steam Packet Officer about their established Steamer line that runs from England to Vancouver Island. The company describes themselves as being the first British House to establish a line of Steamers from England to Vancouver Island.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
California State Telegraph Company
On 2 May 1852, Oliver C. Allen and Clark Burnham of New York formed the California State Telegraph Company, originally California Telegraph Company, after they were granted a franchise by the California Legislature for a term of fifteen years.1
Prior to the established telegraph line, the means of communication between California and the outside states was by a hazardous journey over the plains, across [the Panama] Isthmus or around the Horn. In its early stages, the project experienced misfortunes as it faced disastrous fires and shortage of funding. The project faced further problems when, on the day the telegraph poles were to be erected, the crew involved abandoned the project. Shortly after, the company reorganized and its new president, W. B. Ranson, assumed control over it in 1853.2
In May 1864, the company's president visited Vancouver Island in order to propose the building of a telegraph line so that Victoria could be connected to Washington Territory. On 29 October 1864, the California State Telegraph Company completed its line to Olympia. The company then intended to extend it north into British Columbia and Vancouver Island.3
The company continued under this name until June 1867 when it was again reorganized and subsumed as the Pacific Division of the Western Union Telegraph Company.4
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Cavan and Company
Cavan and Company were agents for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company of New York, as well as agents for the Panama Railroad Company. In this despatch, the company requests Lytton's attention to the advantages of forming a postal connection with British Columbia.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Central Press
According to this despatch, the Central Press is a news organization based out of England which relays news from the colonies.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Clarke, Son and Rawlins
Clarke, Son and Rawlins were solicitors located on No. 29, Coleman Street, London E.C. In this despatch, the company requests information on the acts passed on Vancouver Island regarding joint stock companies.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Coleman, Turquand, Youngs & Co.
Coleman, Turquand, Youngs & Co. was a London based accounting firm formed in 1857.1 According to historian Edgar Jones, James Edward Coleman, one of the firm's partners, had established a considerable reputation as a City accountant by the late 1840s and was often called by the Bank of England to investigate the solvency of suspect firms, including Trueman & Cook, colonial brokers.2 Following Coleman's death on 6 November 1868, the firm was renamed Turquand, Youngs & Co.3
  • 1. Edgar Jones, Accountancy and the British Economy, 1840-1980 […] (London, B. T. Batsford, 1981), 34. http://n2t.net/ark:/13960/t20d2fm8j
  • 2. Ibid., 35.
  • 3. Ibid., 42; Monetary and Mercantile Affairs, Standard (London, England), 9 November 1868, 2; Deaths, Daily News (London, England), 9 November 1868, 7.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Cotterill & Sons
Cotterill & Sons was the legal firm of William Henry Cotterill and James Hardman Cotterill.1 In 1860, the company wrote the Colonial Office asking about real estate laws in British Columbia and Vancouver Island.2 According to the Solicitors' Journal, William disappeared in 1870, leaving behind nearly £100,000 in debt.3
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Cox & Co.
Operating from London, England, Cox & Co. was a British army agent and private bank during the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries.1
  • 1. K. R. Jones, 1368. Army Agents: Richard Cox and His Followers, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research vol. 40, no. 162 (June 1962): 104. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44222460; John Orbell and Alison Turton, British Banking: A Guide to Historical Records (London: Routledge, [2001] 2007), 173-174. http://doi.org/10.4324/9781315261317; K. R. Jones, Cox and Co.: Army Agents Craig's Court: The Nineteenth Century, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research vol. 40, no. 164 (December 1962): 178-186. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44222460
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Duncan & Dewar
Duncan & Dewar was an Edinburgh based legal firm operated by solicitors James Duncan and H. B. Dewar between 1852 and 1865.1
  • 1. Adjourned Sale, Caledonian Mercury (Edinburgh), 8 January 1852, 1; An Artful Swindler, Caledonian Mercury (Edinburgh), 5 February 1855, 2; Law Intelligence, Caledonian Mercury (Edinburgh), 20 December 1865, 2.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
East India Company
The East India Company, also called the English East India Company, was established by royal charter on 31 December 1600 for trade with East and Southeast Asia and India. It originally started as a monopolistic trading body but soon became involved in politics, acting as an agent of British imperialism from the early eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century.1
At the beginning of its operations, the company used slave labour by transporting enslaved people to its facilities in Southeast Asia and India; many of the slave labourers used by the East India Company were from East Africa and Madagascar. These large-scale transportations continued and reached a height in the 1750s and ending in the 1770s.2 After a mid-eighteenth century focus on the “Spice Trade,” the company turned its focus to tea in the early-nineteenth century. The finance of the tea trade was done through illegal opium exports to China which inevitably led to the First Opium War (1839-42), the Chinese defeat in this war led to further expansion in British trade.3
Eventually the East India Company's commercial monopoly was broken and it only remained as a managing agency for the British government in India. It later lost this role after the “Indian Mutiny” of 1857 and ceased to exist, fully, as a legal entity by 1873.4
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Edelman and Company
Edelman and Company were possibly merchants. In this despatch, the company requests information about land grants because they represented a group of merchants that were contemplating the formation of mercantile establishments as Victoria and British Columbia.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Edmiston and Son
Edmiston and Son were manufacturers of the “pocket siphonia” also known as a “waterproof overcoat.”1 In this despatch, Edmiston and Son make an alleged claim on their part against Mr. Franks, who was treasurer of British Columbia in the mid-1860s and known for his undistinguished character, requesting that Franks pay for his purchase of a siphonia.2
Mentions of this organization in the documents
European Assurance Society
The European Assurance Company was an insurance company that declared its aim as the assurance of lives, annuities, and the guarantee of fidelity in situations of trust. Its main office was located in London with other branches expanding into the colonies, such as in Australia. Its principle goal was to protect the interests of the colonial life-policy holders and to assure that these “policy holders” were entitled to seek aid with the Court of Equity if it befitted them.1
  • 1. European Assurance Society Office, The European Assurance Society: empowered by special act of Parliament, (1859); European Assurance Society, The Argus, 23 November 1869, p.6.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Farrer, Ouvry and Co.
Farrer, Ouvry & Co. was a law firm established in London, England in 1701. Over the centuries, many of their clients have been British royals and nobility.1 In 1869, Angela Burdett-Coutts, the daughter of Sir Francis Burdett, hired lawyers from Farrer, Ouvry & Co. to assist in detailing the position of the [Society for Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts] in relation to policy and deeds of trust.3 In 1870, Burdett-Coutts wrote to Earl Granville to inform him of the establishment of the Archdeaconries of British Columbia and questioned with whom the reversionary interest should rest if the government were to give up British Columbia.4 Farrer, Ouvry & Co., sent a statement to the Colonial Office explaining why suggested amendments to the rules [regarding deed titles] should not be allowed to stand.5 The Colonial Office finds the letter puzzling.In their minutes, staff recount that British Columbia may long remain a British Colony, but they cannot blame any lawyer…who being employed as laywers [sic] are to provide for all imaginable contingencies.6
Information is not yet available for this organization.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Harewood Coal Mining Company
The Harewood Coal Mining Company, also known as the Harewood Colliery Company, was founded by Horace Douglas Lascelles, son of the third earl of Harewood. The company officially launched in 1864.1 In April 1864, Robert Dunsmuir joined the Harewood Coal Company, although his time in the company was not long lasting as the company had few investments and was soon abandoned due to bankruptcy in 1869.2 The Harewood Coal Company was an important destination for the newly built roads from Nanaimo, transportation was valued for the distribution of coal in and out of the Nanaimo area.3
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Harewood Railway Company
The Harewood Coal Mining Company created the railway company to propose a railway that ran from Departure Bay, Nanaimo and connected to the Harewood Coal fields in Mountain District, Vancouver Island.1 The directors of the railway company were J. J. Southgate and Sebright Green. On 10 June 1864, they requested the consent of the Governor to take land in the “Government Reserve” in the Nanaimo District to build their railway. The council agreed to this motion. The lands on which the Harewood Railway ran were on unceded Snuneymuxw territory.2
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) was officially chartered on 2 May 1670 and is the oldest incorporated joint-stock merchandising company in the English-speaking world.1 French traders Médard Chouart des Groseilliers and Pierre-Esprit Radisson first proposed a trading company that sent goods via the Hudson Bay as a way to gain easier access to the fur resources of the interior of what is now Canada. After the company was chartered, it claimed 1.5 million square kilometers of land inhabited by Inuit and First Nations communities.2
The company's original headquarters were in London, England, with its head offices located in Brampton, Ontario; and its first royal governor was Prince Rupert for whom “Rupert's Land” was named. The HBC established various posts throughout the country and had a large impact on Indigenous Peoples and their traditional way of life and economy. The company exploited Indigenous hunters' methods of trapping for profit, and the arrival of Europeans also introduced diseases such as smallpox.3
In 1821, the HBC merged with the North West Company. After the merger, the company closed many of its trading posts which were unprofitable. This caused a very negative effect on Indigenous groups who had become reliant on the fur trade.4 In 1849, the British extended a ten-year lease to the HBC for the propriety of Vancouver Island. The condition of the grant was declared to be the colonization of the island. However, this new colonial paradigm of land settlement proved difficult for the HBC.5 During this time, Richard Blanshard was dispatched by the Colonial Office to serve as governor, he was one of the few non-Indigenous persons on the island who did not work for the company. Blanshard's time in the position was short-lived. After his resignation, James Douglas (the former Chief Factor of the HBC) was appointed governor.6
After Douglas' appointment, he was met with pressures and orders to settle the island with colonists who were loyal to the Crown. During this time, Edward Gibbon Wakefield's theory (the “Wakefield System”) aligned with the HBC's policy of settlement on the island. The policy was a colonial theory premised on high land prices and a land based exclusionary franchise. This experiment resulted in the settlement of a mere handful of independent colonists.7 This policy was strongly opposed by Douglas and inevitably failed.
The Crown in its relationship with the HBC, began to see Douglas as having a conflict of interest: that Douglas was more mistrustful of settlers and defensive of Aboriginal rights.8 Eventually the HBC relinquished its colonial responsibilities after Douglas' governorship of British Columbia began in 1851.
Today, the company is associated with 250 department stores in Canada and the United States.9
  • 1. Arthur J. Ray, Hudson's Bay Company, The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2 April 2009.
  • 2. Ibid.; Melissa Gismondi, The untold story of the Hudson's Bay Company, 2 May 2020.
  • 3. Ibid.
  • 4. Ray, Hudson's Bay Company.
  • 5. John Douglas Belshaw, The Island Colony, in Canadian History: Pre-Confederation, (BC Open Textbook Project, 2015); Foreign Office to [Recipient not known], 1849, CO 305/1, p.635.
  • 6. Belshaw, The Island Colony.
  • 7. Ibid.; Richard Mackie, The Colonization of Vancouver Island, 1849-1858, BC Studies, no.96, (Winter 1992-93), p.3.
  • 8. Belshaw, The Island Colony.
  • 9. Ray, The Hudson's Bay Company.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Lansing, Starr and Company
Lansing, Starr, and Company was a transit line company. The company proposed to the government their transit route, which ran from London to the colony of British Columbia, be the primary route for passengers and freight to Vancouver Island and Fraser River.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
London Daily News
Well-known author Charles Dickens founded the London Daily News in 1846. The aim of its foundation was to provide a Liberal rival to the morning Conservative newspapers, such as the Times.1 The Daily News was said to campaign for reform, its opening editorial claimed to advance the ‘Principles of Improvement; of Education, Civil and Religious Liberty, and Equal Legislation.'2
Initially, the paper was commercially disastrous; however its circulation improved by 1849. The improvement and growth in its distribution was related to the price reduction of newspapers as newspaper taxes were slowly being abolished.3 The London Daily News gradually established itself as one of the most popular daily papers. By the end of the nineteenth century it claimed to have the largest circulation of any Liberal Paper in the world. Its circulation peaked at 93,000 copies in 1890.4
Mentions of this organization in the documents
London, Dublin & Glasgow Marine Insurance Company
The London, Dublin & Glasgow Marine Insurance Company was established in the early 1860s.1 According to historian Frederick Martin, it was a short-lived venture which never ripened.2
  • 1. Frederick Martin, The History of Lloyd's and of Marine Insurance in Great Britain […] (London: Macmillan and Co., 1876), 314. http://n2t.net/ark:/13960/t9k44r912; Cameron to Newcastle, 17 January 1861, CO 60:12, no. 460, 113. B615MI02.html
  • 2. Martin, The History of Lloyd's and of Marine Insurance, 314.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
North West Company
The North West Company was founded in 1779 as a major force in the fur trade from the 1780s to 1821.1 It originally confined its operations to the Lake Superior Region and the valleys of the Red, Assiniboine, and Saskatchewan rivers. However during its growth it expanded as far as Oregon Country where it constructed posts in what is now Washington and Idaho.2
The company was managed primarily by Highland Scots who immigrated to Montreal after 1760, its original business leaders included Simon McTavish, Isaac Tod, and James McGill.3 Competition with the Hudson's Bay Company increased in 1811-12 when the HBC set up a post on the Red River, in the NWC's area of operation. Conflict soon broke out between the two companies when the NWC destroyed the Red River colony. The HBC retaliated by destroying the NWC's post at Fort Gibraltar (located in modern Winnipeg).4
There were many attempts by the NWC to end the HBC monopoly in what is now Canada, such as blocking the plans for HBC expansion by buying up HBC stock in London. However all these attempts failed. The North West Company also attempted to expand and develop its company and its trade with China through a liaison with the East India Company. This too proved unfruitful.5
Due to the pressure of the British government and by a parliamentary act, the North West Company merged with the HBC in 1821 and took on the latter company's name.6
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Ottoman Bank
The Ottoman Bank underwent different variations of itself, but it is considered to be the first modern bank in the Ottoman Empire and the modern Republic. The first Ottoman Bank was founded in 1847 after it borrowed money from two moneychangers. This version of the bank went by the name “Bank-1 Der Saadet;” however it was not long lasting as it did not have any capital and soon went bankrupt.1
The second Ottoman Bank, which is most likely referred to in this despatch, was founded in 1856 and headquartered in London. It was founded due to the support and help of British capital and went by the name “Bank-1 Osmani.” On 4 February 1863, British and French shareholders and the Ottoman government contracted the last version of the Ottoman Bank — the version that is still known today.2This bank, referred to as the Imperial Ottoman Bank, was ratified by Sultan Abdulaziz in order to help solve the economic crisis in the empire. This version was an extension of the Bank-1 Osmani and took over its branches and staff.3
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Puget Sound Agricultural Company
The Puget Sound Agricultural Company was formed in 1839 to manage the production of livestock and food supplies, and to promote British settlement in Oregon territory. Its early directors were Governor John Henry Pelly, Deputy Governor Andrew Colvile, and Sir George Simpson.1
The PSAC operated two large farms. The farm at Fort Nisqually, now in present day Tacoma, Washington, served as the company's headquarters. The second centre was located at Cowlitz Farm near present day Toledo, Washington. At Cowlitz, the PSAC focused on the production of peas, potatoes, and grain.2 In the late 1850s and early 1860s there was much debate about the company's claim to the territory in Washington and Oregon especially with the increase in American settlers in the region. Due to this tension, the company felt its land, recognized in an 1840s treaty, was being taken — although this treaty expired in May 1859.3 It should be noted that the treaty disregarded the original Indigenous territory which the PSAC took in order to establish their company.
The PSAC also established itself on Vancouver Island in the early 1850s. In the mid-nineteenth century, the PSAC undertook the development of several farms on Vancouver Island. The move to the island was due both to the concession to the United States and that it was the closest British held region from which the company could continue its operation.4 After surveying the island, the company requested that about ten square miles be reserved, this had to include as much open or prairie land as possible. In 1851, land was reserved for the company near Esquimalt Harbour, in which approximately 74 labourers were needed for the purpose of cultivation.5 In 1852, the PSAC commenced two large agricultural establishments in both Esquimalt and Victoria.6
In 1853, Governor James Douglas commissioned the PSAC to operate a sheep farm, called Bellevue, on San Juan Island. With the already growing disputes on San Juan Island and the question of its sovereignty beginning in 1846, the purpose of the sheep farm was to hold the island as a de facto dependency of Vancouver Island.7 Over the next ten years, the farm was surrounded by American settlers who saw the farm as an infringement on American territorial rights. The creation of the farm did aid in the increase of tension on the island with the British wanting to hold the island and the Americans' unwillingness to acknowledge the HBC's ownership of the territory with the farm. Eventually San Juan was awarded to the United States by the German Kaiser.8
Beyond these disputes and tensions, the PSAC continues to have a lasting memory on Vancouver Island, especially through Craigflower Manor. The manor (1856) is one of the oldest remaining farmhouses in British Columbia. It was constructed by the HBC, as part of the PSAC's subsidiary endeavours. Today, the farmhouse represents the efforts of the HBC to establish a base for colonial settlement on Vancouver Island. It also remains as a reminder of the importance of farming on Vancouver Island prior to 1858 and the gold rush.9
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Samuel Price & Co.
Samuel Price & Co. were merchants and ship's agents based in Victoria and San Francisco.1
  • 1. Booth to Fortescue, 8 March 1860, CO 305:15, no. 2521, 532. V605TA04.html; Edw. Mallandaine, First Victoria Directory [1860] (Victoria: Edw. Mallandaine & Co., 1860), 24, 56, 84. http://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0221845; J. M. S. Careless, The Business Community in the Early Development of Victoria, British Columbia, in Historical Essays on British Columbia, ed. J. Friesen and H. K. Ralston (Toronto: Gage Publishing Limited, 1980), 188. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qf30q
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Shaw, Savill and Company
Shaw, Savill and Company was an insurance company who acted for the Briseis. The Briseis burned at sea off the coast of Brazil, along with 400 tons of miscellaneous supplies.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Sybry, Searls and Company
Sybry, Searls, and Company was a steel company located in Sheffield, England. An advertisement for the company appears in an 1888 copy of the Thames Star newspaper. They are advertised as their steel was processed for wheels, axles, trucks, hammers, and picks. The company's steel stock was supplied by Australian merchants.1
  • 1. Advertisements, Thames Star, vol.20, no.6136, 5 December 1888, p.1.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Vancouver Island Dock Company
This organization was a company located on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, which specialized in making docks.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Western Union Telegraph Company
The Western Union Telegraph Company was the first nationwide multi-unit modern business enterprise in the United States, specializing in the electromagnetic telegraph.1 A small group of entrepreneurs launched the company in 1851 originally named it “The New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company.” They changed its name to “Western Union” on 8 April 1856.2
The first poles were set-up on 4 July 1861 and the lines joined with Salt Lake City on 24 October 1861, only 112 days after the project began. By 1866, the company monopolized and seized control of the largest telegraph network in the world. Gradually, Western Union absorbed over 500 other telegraph companies.3 By 1868, the United States government nationalized telegraph companies, including Western Union. In 1873, an early telegraph historian declared that this [telegraphs] technology had bound the nations of the earth in brotherhood.4
Western Union believed that only a single company could afford to conduct the nation's telegraph business. To achieve this “self-serving” goal, the company engaged manipulation of the press, they destroyed competition, and resisted democratization.5 The influence/power of the company was depicted in an 1881 Puck cartoon in which Uncle Sam is being tortured on a rack made out of a Western Union telegraph pole.6
Overall, the company exerted a large amount of influence, such as it helped to define the core elements of market triumphalism which still persists to this day. With the help of the Competition Act (1981), the company also extended its services to over 100 different countries.7
  • 1. Joshua D. Wolff, Western Union and the Creation of the American Corporate Order, 1845-1893, (Cambridge University Press, 2013), p.3,5.
  • 2. Ibid., 2; Western Union, US History.
  • 3. Ibid.
  • 4. Wolff, Western Union, p.3,5.
  • 5. Ibid., 6.
  • 6. Ibid., 7.
  • 7. Ibid., 8; Western Union, US History.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Wilkins & Co
Robert Wilkins, Henry Robinson, and William Crane Wilkins formed Wilkins & Co., a lighthouse manufacturing business. The business, “Lighthouse and Patent Lamp Manufacturers” was located at No. 24 and 25 Long-acre in the county of Middlesex.1 In roughly 1854, William Crane Wilkins an engineer, requested a grant for an invention for lighting; and in apparatus for lighthouses, signal, floating, and harbour lights.2
The company was dissolved by mutual consent on 2 January 1837 which creates a mystery as they continued to operate in the 1850s, and do business with British Columbia in the late 1860s. The company also almost went bankrupt in 1866. It is clear, then, that the company struggled financially throughout its existence.3 Amidst these struggles, the company held a long and highly regarded reputation.4
  • 1. William Crane Wilkins, Grace's Guide.
  • 2. Bennet Woodcroft, Titles of Patent of Invention, (The Queen's Printing Office, 1854), p.1476.
  • 3. William Crane Wilkins.
  • 4. Ileana Chinnici, Decoding the Stars: A Biography of Angelo Secchi, Jesuit and Scientist, (BRILL, 17 June 2019), p.94.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Willmett and Sons
Willmett and Sons was a ship building and repairing & general commerce business that also engaged in agriculture. In the correspondence between the company and Lytton, Willmett and Sons requested land in the colony of Vancouver Island which would be large enough for their business purposes.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
W. S. Lindsay & Co.
William Schaw Lindsay, who began his career as a merchant in the navy in the 1830s, founded W. S. Lindsay & Co. Lindsay later became a ship owner and began to experiment with different types of ships, which enabled him to form his own company. His company then became one of the world's major ship owners.1
Enclosed in a despatch, W. S. Lindsay & Co advertised for passage to Vancouver Island on board the Tynemouth. The advertisement included rates, scale of provisions, and other information targeted specifically towards emigrants.2
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Wylde and Company
In this despatch, Wylde and Company request information on the location of George Tomline Gordon, the recently appointed Treasurer who was later put on trial for embezzlement. It is unclear the nature of this company.1
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Volunteer
Vancouver Island Volunteer Corps
The Vancouver Island Volunteer Rifle Corps, was an all-white volunteer organization created to help defend Vancouver Island, as many residents of the colony understood they would have to act on their own accord and in their own defense if necessary.1
Volunteer rifle corps were very popular in Britain, a tradition which has continued to this day. With the arrival of British emigrants to the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, this long-standing tradition of volunteer militias was transferred and became an establishment in both colonies.2 However, a volunteer unit was not specifically established in Victoria until the population grew. By 1859, many settlers volunteered their services. There were four distinct groups formed between 1859-1871, all the volunteers in each group were responsible for paying their monthly dues, purchasing their uniform, accoutrements and practice ammunition.3
The Vancouver Island Volunteer Rifle Corps, one of the four main units, was formed in Victoria in June 1861. The volunteers for this corps were called the loyal and industrious Canadian portion of the population, many of whom felt called to volunteer due to the growing tensions between the United States and Britain, especially at the outbreak of the American Civil War.4 On the corps' inauguration on 30 June 1861, approximately 131 men enrolled. That July, Major George F. Foster was elected to command the corps. On his own initiative, he approved the formation of a sub-unit with the corps -- an artillery company.5
The training for the artillerymen began on 24 July 1861. Despite its enthusiastic and promising start, the corps quickly declined in September 1861 after Foster went on leave to England. In his absence Captain G. T. Gordon took over his position, who during this time was caught in an embezzlement scandal where he was subsequently imprisoned, then escaped and fled the country.6 The corps found itself leaderless and in disarray.
During this time, the corps also had internal conflict between the two groups of the corps -- the main group and the artillery company. The corps could not survive its internal quarrel and upon Foster's arrival, he could not revive his previous command.7 The Vancouver Island Volunteer Rifle Corps was disbanded by public proclamation on 16 July 1862, approximately a year after its formation.8
The Victoria Rifle Volunteer Corps took over as one of the main units after the former disbanded, it was formed on 19 March 1864. It should be noted that prior to these two corps, a small volunteer unit was formed in 1851 to enforce justice on Vancouver Island. This group was made-up of primarily Métis and Iroquois, they called themselves the “Victoria Voltigeurs.”9
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Charitable Society
Aborigines Protection Society
The Aborigines Protection Society (APS) was established in 1837 to oppose the exploitation of Indigenous Peoples in the British colonies, operating particularly in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Canada, South Africa, and the Congo.1 The APS was a humanitarian movement and, as author Kenneth D. Nworah describes, the most significant check on the sagging moral conscience of Britain.2
The APS was not the first humanitarian society established to help Indigenous Peoples. Two years earlier (1835), Thomas Buxton, along with quakers -- a religious society devoted to peaceful principles -- established a Parliamentary Select Committee to discuss the colonial issues and effect of white settlement.3 However, the APS was separate from the original committee, although it shared similar goals. It focused on the problems caused by British imperialism on Indigenous Peoples and was born out of concern for the welfare of Indigenous Peoples under pressure from growing emigration from western Europe.4
Once established, the society was placed on the Executive branch of the colonial government, whereby the governors, not the legislators of the colonies had the authority over the decisions on Indigenous groups. With the appointment of Fox Bourne in 1889, the APS strengthened its traditional position as a humanitarian pressure group.5 The society attached importance to the principle of inalienability [non-transferable view] of native lands. This was seen in their stance on the Gold Coast Land Ordinance of 1897 and its protest against the Forestry Ordinance of 1901.6
On 28 March 1896, the APS further emphasized their basis of a rigid avoidance of meddling with native institutions. However firm this basis was, the APS proved a bit paradoxical. Although the society promoted the rights of Indigenous Peoples to participate on “equitable terms,” such as their participation in the Civil Service and municipal governments, still the APS insisted that the demand for self-government by [Indigenous groups] was not part of its aims.7 Demonstrating an opposing view to the ‘foundations' it was supposedly built upon.
The APS continued in its separate ‘humanitarian' efforts until it amalgamated with the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society in 1909. Today, the society is known as the “Anti-Slavery international.”8
Mentions of this organization in the documents
British Columbia Emigration Society
The British Columbia Emigration Society, also known as the BC Female Emigration Society and the Female Middle-Class Emigration Society (FMCES), was an operation dedicated to bringing women to the colony.1
It is unclear who first initiated the society. It seems that in the late 1850s, an Anglican minister, Robert C. Brown of Lillooet, began the Columbia Emigration Society to arrange for young women from England to be sent to Cariboo as potential brides for miners.2 Although Brown may have initiated the first-known reports of the society, it was, particularly, Miss Maria Rye who successfully helped female emigrants enter the country byway of the steamships Tynemouth and Robert Lowe.3
The society in conjunction with the Female Immigration Committee was one of the early schemes to fill the servant void and to increase the population in BC, as seen with the arrival of the Tynemouth. Victoria's Daily Press wrote that the society intended to facilitate the emigration of industrious women […] to the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia.4 Maria Rye worked closely with the society in 1862, although she had disregard [for] the FMCES' mission of recruiting only middle-class women. Instead, Rye recruited working-class women due to the labour market in British Columbia. During this time, the FMCES focused on robust workers and potential brides, although not all the female emigrants aided were young and single.5
The society's first emigration effort took place in 1862, in which 60 girls and women sailed from Dartmouth to Victoria, BC on the Tynemouth. The Daily Press reported that 50 of the emigrants had obtained free passage from the society.6 Upon their arrival in the Victoria harbour in September 1862, many newspapers reported on the large crowd of anxious suitors and hopeful employers gathered to greet and inspect the women. Due to the society's goal to bring about ‘potential brides and workers,' brought men to the harbour who awaited their arrival, they were described by The British Colonist as breeches-wearing bipeds assembled to see the women disembark.7
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Literary Society of Nanaimo
The very first literary meeting in Nanaimo was held in 1859 and netted 44 dollars to purchase books. Three years later, on 25 November 1862, St. Paul's Literary Society was founded in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Reverend John Booth Good was a founding member of the society.1
Two years after its founding, the society decided to build its own hall. Governor Arthur Kennedy officially opened the Literary Institute Hall in November 1864.2 After its creation, for an annual fee, members could use the reading room with its newspapers and periodicals from England, or they could borrow books. The literary hall in Nanaimo became the centre of social life of the community, as it accommodated approximately 250 people.3
  • 1. Jan Peterson, Black Diamond City: Nanaimo, the Victorian Era, (Heritage House Publishing, 2002), p.192.
  • 2. Ibid.
  • 3. Ibid.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Royal Humane Society
In 1774, two doctors, William Hawes and Thomas Cogan established the Royal Humane Society (RHS), originally called the “Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned,” in London. They created the society as they were concerned with the amount of persons who were wrongly taken for dead, therefore they wanted to focus on resuscitation.1
In 1783, King George III became the first patron of the society, and in 1787 the society became officially known as the Royal Humane Society.2 The RHS focused on five key aims, specifically aimed towards drowning, this included publishing information on how to save people from drowning, providing volunteer medical assistants, and paying people for successfully bringing someone back to life. The emphasis that the RHS held on drowning was rooted in that few people in the 18th century knew how to swim. A year before the founding of the society, 123 people drowned in London alone.3
In 1835, the society built a “Receiving House” in Hyde Park where first aid could be given, it remained in the park until 1954.4 In 1949, the Royal Charter incorporated the society. Today, the society continues to operate out of its headquarters in London with the aim to recognize the bravery of men, women, and children who have saved or tried to save someone else's life. From its foundation in 1774 to 2003, the society gave over 84,000 awards for bravery.5
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Professional Society
Geological Society
The Geological Society began as a dinner society with four amateur mineral enthusiasts: physician William Babington, pharmaceutical chemist William Allen, and Quaker brothers William and Richard Phillips.1 The society was inaugurated on 13 November 1807, its goal was to acquaint all geologists with one another, to stimulate their zeal for geology, induce them to adopt one nomenclature, and to facilitate the communications of new facts. These aims were officially adopted on 1 January 1808.2
Early in its formation, the society moved to Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1810, here it shared a building with the Medical and Chirurgical Society. A year later, the first volume of the transactions of the Geological Society were published.3 The society began to collect minerals, rocks, and fossils, some of which were sent by Britain's colonies. In 1859, gold samples were sent from the colony of British Columbia to the Geological Society.4
With the increase in activity, the first permanent officer was appointed in 1812, his duties included taking care of the society's library and collections. The growth in the society's collection of maps, sections, and mineral specimens made the society move again in 1816 to Covent Garden. On 23 April 1825, the society was granted a Royal Charter.5 The society moved again in 1828 to Somerset House where it stayed until 1874 when it moved to Burlington House, the society remains here today.6
Today the Geological Society is the UK national professional body for geoscientists, and it is the global leader in Earth science publishing.7
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Meteorological Society
The Meteorological Society was founded on 3 April 1850 when a small group of men met at astronomer Dr. John Lee's home in Buckinghamshire, England. The men discussed forming a society which would be the advancement and extension of meteorological science by determining the laws of climate and other meteorological phenomena.1
The next meeting of the society took place on 7 May 1850 and the membership grew to 90 individuals, among them was the famous meteorologist Luke Howard who was known for naming the clouds.2 The society officially became known as the “Meteorological Society” in 1866 when it was incorporated by Royal Charter. In 1883 it became known as the “Royal Meteorological Society” when Queen Victoria granted the privilege of adding “royal” to the title. During its establishment, the society was happy to receive meteorological observations from across the globe. In this despatch, Colonel Moody discusses the observations he took at the Royal Engineers Camp in 1862, which the society said they would be glad to receive.3
By 1900, the number of members exceeded 600 individuals. It amalgamated with the Scottish Meteorological Society in 1921 and in 1946 it published its first monthly magazine: Weather. Membership numbers peaked in 1997 with 3,691 people.4
Today, the society is open to anyone who is interested in observing and understanding weather and climate. It remains dedicated to advancing meteorology and climate science through a variety of programs and activities.5
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society was founded in London in 1830 as an institution to promote the advancement of geographical science. The society began as a dining club in which the members would hold informal dinners to discuss their current scientific issues.1
Under the patronage of King William IV, the society became known as the “Royal Geographical Society.” In 1859, they were granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria. Much of the information gained from the society came from colonial explorations, such as those in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the polar regions, and central Asia.2 As well, it received information from abroad through paper submissions. In 1870, the society published Judge Begbie's paper on the Fraser River “drift benches” in British Columbia, along with diagrams; and in 1862 it published maps of BC's gold regions, sent by Colonel Moody.3
The society is located in Lowther Lodge, where it moved in 1913. It continues to hold the same goals as when it was first founded, although the manner in which they achieve them has been broadened. The society still utilized field research and expeditions, but now uses lectures, conferences, and historical collections. Today, the society is merged with its once sister body: The Institute of British Geographers.4
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Political Society
Fenian Society
The Fenians were a mid-19th century movement, beginning in 1857, aimed at securing Ireland's independence from Britain. Established by Irish nationalist James Stephens, the society, originally called the “Irish Republican Brotherhood,” was a secret and outlawed organization in the British Empire. The term “Fenian” comes from the Gaelic Fianna Eirionn which means the band of mythological warriors.1
The society operated openly in the United States as the “Fenian Brotherhood.” John O'Mahoney founded the American branch. By 1865, the Fenians secured 500,000 dollars and a force of approximately 10,000 individuals, many of whom were American Civil War veterans.2 The movement was based primarily in the US, however, there was a strong presence of Fenians in Canada as well. There was strong support for Irish nationalism in Canada, although only 1,000-3,000 of 250,000 Irish Canadians officially joined the movement. The most well-known Canadian Fenian was Michael Murphy in Toronto.3
Canadian officials were alarmed by the growth of Fenianism and armed raids that occurred in Canadian territory between 1866-1871. For example, in April 1866, the Fenian Society launched a raid in New Brunswick. The society felt that they should hit the British empire where it was most vulnerable, this they believed to be Canada. They saw Canada as an easy target to invade, especially if the French-Canadians remained neutral and they could gain Irish Canadian support.4 The movement's view was that if they succeeded in Canada, they could disrupt Britain's transatlantic commerce or use Canada as a “bargaining chip” for negotiations. The Fenians saw war in Canada as freedom for Ireland.5
However, the raids in Canada were poorly organized and quickly collapsed. The last attempt was in 1871 in Manitoba. The Fenians hoped to gain support from Louis Riel and the Métis, but Riel created a group of volunteers to defend the frontier against the Fenian's attacks.6 Afterwards, the Fenians became fragmented.
The Fenians did not disappear, and participated in the 1916 Easter Rebellion in Dublin. However, by this point they were sharply divided. They were split into two groups, one side supporting the creation of a broad nationalist front and the other strongly supporting the need for political violence.7
  • 1. Hereward Senior, Fenians, The Canadian Encyclopedia, 7 February 2006.
  • 2. Ibid.
  • 3. Ibid.
  • 4. The Fenians, Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
  • 5. Ibid.
  • 6. Senior, Fenians.
  • 7. Ibid.; John Dorney, The Fenians: An Overview, The Irish Story, 7 March 2017.
Mentions of this organization in the documents
Legal Organization
Gray's Inn
Gray's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court which have the right and ability to call both men and women to the Bar of England and Wales.1 By the end of the 17th century, the qualifications for being called to the Bar were changed, at this point it mostly depended on personal recommendations from the Judge. By the 1840s little further had developed except that taking the Sacrament was no longer mandatory.2
In 1846, the Inn urged that the students who would attend the inn ought to receive a comprehensive legal education and that there should be uniformity of practice of Call to the Bar. This decision was a large development for Gray's Inn and by 1852 the Council of Legal Education was established.3 Today, Gray's Inn is well-renowned with many individuals wanting to join due to its community-like nature; additionally, that it is mandatory to be a member of one of the Inns in order to practice law in England.
Mentions of this organization in the documents